New York justice returns to China two sculptures seized from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

New York justice returned to China on Tuesday, May 9, two funerary sculptures seized from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The two stone works, dating from the 7th century and worth $3.5 million, had been “sawn off” on graves in the early 1990s. They were then smuggled out of China and trafficked internationally, said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Of “1998 to their seizure in 2023, these antiquities were on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met) by Shelby White, a Manhattan collector”.

New York State justice has been leading a vast campaign for more than two years to restore antiquities looted from around twenty countries, which have landed in museums and galleries in the city, including the prestigious Met. “It’s a shame that these two incredible antiques were stolen and that at least one of them remained hidden from the public for almost three decades”, judged Alvin Bragg. One of the sculptures has indeed remained stored in the museum’s reserves for 25 years.

The New York prosecutor’s office said it had “completed this year a criminal investigation into antiquities acquired by [Shelby] White, which resulted in the seizure of 89 works from ten different countries, with a total value of $69 million.”. Under the aegis of Alvin Bragg, more than 950 pieces worth more than $165 million have been returned to 19 countries since January 2022.